It has been confirmed that Spanish olympic star Francisco Sanchez Luna “Kiko” will be participating in the 49th FNewport Bermuda Race, which is scheduled to begin on June 20, 2014 off Castle Hill Lighthouse in Newport Rhode Island, with boats finishing off Bermuda’s St. David’s Lighthouse anytime from June 22 to as late as June 26.
The 635-mile biennial Newport Bermuda Race is the oldest regularly scheduled ocean race, one of very few international races, and also one of just two of the world’s scheduled races held almost entirely out of sight of land. Founded in 1906, the Bermuda Race is being held for the 49th time in 2014.
A spokesperson said, “Approximately 170 boats sail the race every year. The average crew has ten men or women. The race starts off Newport, Rhode Island in front of many spectators, on the third Friday of each June. It takes more than two hours to get all those boats started in their six divisions and 17 classes. Depending on the weather and the currents in the Gulf Stream, and the boat’s size and speed, the race takes two to six days. The first boat arrives at the finish line at St. David’s Light on Sunday or Monday, and the smaller boats arrive between then and Wednesday or Thursday.”
Francisco Sanchez Luna has been training hard recently on the Spanish Costa Blanca and says he is as fit now as he has ever been, and was quietly confident about finishing the race, which is nicknamed ‘the thrash to the Onion Patch’ because most Bermuda Races include high winds and big waves, a combination sailors call ‘a hard thrash,’ and because Bermuda was once an agricultural island where large onions thrived. While the race is not dangerous, it demands good seamanship, great care, and a boat that is both well built and properly equipped. The boats must meet stringent equipment requirements and undergo inspection, and the sailors must be experienced and undergo training in safety.
Since 1926, the race has been run by the Cruising Club of America and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. Volunteer Bermuda Race Organizing Committee composed of members of the two clubs manage the race. There are six divisions, each for a type of boat. The race has no single winner, only divisional winners, yet the winning St. David’s Lighthouse Division boat, the division for normal multi-purpose cruising-racing boats, is regarded as the race’s top boat. This division is the largest at approximately 90 boats. There are limits on the number of professional sailors in these boats, and only amateurs are allowed to steer.
To date, the Newport Bermuda Race has been sailed 48 times, with 5,025 boats and approximately 50,000 sailors traversing approximately 3,200,000 mile of water. Trophies and other prizes, more than 100 in all, will be presented by Bermuda’s Governor at a ceremony at Government House, overlooking Bermuda.
Francisco Sanchez Luna would appear to be well prepared for this year’s Bermuda race, and said “Fifteen years ago we started this challenge to manage a Sailing Team, with the goal to make it successful and with a long term approach; growing every year with the necessary resources as well as in technical aspects and as in human aspects; this approach has made us a very successful team, well known across the European Sailing Competition.”
Discover more of Francisco “Kiko” Sánchez Luna’s sailing successes on his official website: http://www.franciscosanchezluna.es/
For Media Contact:
Kiko sanchez luna
Buzón 20.125 PolÃgono Industrial
Atalayas, 03114, Alicante, Spain
http://www.franciscosanchezluna.es
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FcGXM5rZi8
https://www.facebook.com/pages/KIKO-Francisco-SANCHEZ-LUNA/449060175116846
